Athaliah Reigns in Judah

11 ^(A)Now when ^(B)Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family. ² But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took ^(C)Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were being put to death, and she put^[a] him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus they^[b] hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death. ³ And he remained with her for six years, hidden in the house of the Lord, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Joash Anointed King in Judah

^4 (D)But in the seventh year ^(E)Jehoiada sent and brought the captains of ^(F)the Carites and of the guards, and had them come to him in the house of the Lord. And he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the Lord, and he showed them the king's son. ⁵ And he commanded them, “This is the thing that you shall do: one third of you, ^(G)those who come off duty on the Sabbath and guard the king's house ⁶ (^(H)another third being at the gate Sur and a third at the gate behind the guards) shall guard the palace.^{[c] 7} And the two divisions of you, which come on duty in force on the Sabbath and guard the house of the Lord on behalf of the king, ⁸ shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand. And whoever approaches the ranks is to be put to death. Be with the king ^(I)when he goes out and when he comes in.”

⁹ The captains did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded, and they each brought his men who were to go off duty on the Sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. ¹⁰ And the priest gave to the captains the spears and ^(J)shields that had been King David's, which were in the house of the Lord. ¹¹ And the guards stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, round the altar and the house on behalf of the king. ¹² Then he brought out the king's son and put ^(K)the crown on him and gave him ^(L)the testimony. And they proclaimed him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, ^(M)“Long live the king!”

¹³ When Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she went into the house of the Lord to the people. ¹⁴ And when she looked, there was the king standing ^(N)by the pillar, according to the custom, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and ^(O)blowing trumpets. And Athaliah ^(P)tore her clothes and cried, “Treason! Treason!” ¹⁵ Then Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains who were set over the army, “Bring her out between the ranks, and put to death with the sword anyone who follows her.” For the priest said, “Let her not be put to death in the house of the Lord.” ¹⁶ So they laid hands on her; and she went through the horses' entrance to the king's house, and there she was put to death.

¹⁷ And Jehoiada ^(Q)made a covenant between the Lord and the king and people, that they should be the Lord's people, and also ^(R)between the king and the people. ¹⁸ Then all the people of the land went to ^(S)the house of Baal and tore it down; ^(T)his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest posted watchmen over the house of the Lord. ¹⁹ And he took the captains, ^(U)the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, marching through ^(V)the gate of the guards to the king's house. And he took his seat on the throne of the kings. ²⁰ So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword at the king's house.

Jehoash Reigns in Judah

^{21 [d] (W)}Jehoash^[e] was seven years old when he began to reign.

12 In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash^[a] began to reign, and he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba. ² And Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days, because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ³ Nevertheless, ^(A)the high places were not taken away; the people continued to sacrifice and make offerings on the high places.

Jehoash Repairs the Temple

⁴ Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the holy things ^(B)that is brought into the house of the Lord, the money for which each man is assessed—the money from the assessment of persons—and ^(C)the money that a man's heart prompts him to bring into the house of the Lord, ⁵ let the priests take, each from his donor, and let them repair the house wherever any need of repairs is discovered.” ⁶ But by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, the priests had made no repairs on the house. ⁷ Therefore King Jehoash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said to them, “Why are you not repairing the house? Now therefore take no more money from your donors, but hand it over for the repair of the house.” ⁸ So the priests agreed that they should take no more money from the people, and that they should not repair the house.

⁹ Then Jehoiada the priest took ^(D)a chest and bored a hole in the lid of it and set it beside the altar on the right side as one entered the house of the Lord. And the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the money that was brought into the house of the Lord. ¹⁰ And whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king's secretary and the high priest came up and they bagged and counted ^(E)the money that was found in the house of the Lord. ¹¹ Then they would give the money that was weighed out into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the Lord. And they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked on the house of the Lord, ¹² and ^(F)to the masons and the stonecutters, as well as to buy timber and quarried stone for making repairs on the house of the Lord, and for any outlay for the repairs of the house. ^13 (G)But there were not made for the house of the Lord ^(H)basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels of gold, or of silver, from the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, ¹⁴ for that was given to the workmen who were repairing the house of the Lord with it. ¹⁵ And ^(I)they did not ask an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workmen, for they dealt honestly. ¹⁶ The money from ^(J)the guilt offerings and the money from the ^(K)sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord; ^(L)it belonged to the priests.

¹⁷ At that time ^(M)Hazael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath and took it. But when Hazael set his face ^(N)to go up against Jerusalem, ¹⁸ Jehoash king of Judah ^(O)took all the sacred gifts that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah his fathers, the kings of Judah, had dedicated, ^(P)and his own sacred gifts, and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king's house, and sent these to Hazael king of Syria. Then Hazael went away from Jerusalem.

The Death of Joash

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^20 (Q)His servants arose and made a conspiracy ^(R)and struck down Joash in the house of ^(S)Millo, on the way that goes down to Silla. ²¹ It was ^(T)Jozacar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of ^(U)Shomer, his servants, who struck him down, so that he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, ^(V)and Amaziah his son reigned in his place.

A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus

2 You then, ^(A)my child, ^(B)be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, ² and ^(C)what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses ^(D)entrust to faithful men ^(E)who will be able to teach others also. ^3 (F)Share in suffering as ^(G)a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴ No soldier ^(H)gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. ^5 (I)An athlete is not ^(J)crowned unless he competes according to the rules. ⁶ It is ^(K)the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. ⁷ Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

⁸ Remember Jesus Christ, ^(L)risen from the dead, the ^(M)offspring of David, ^(N)as preached in my gospel, ^9 (O)for which I am suffering, ^(P)bound with chains as a criminal. But ^(Q)the word of God is not bound! ¹⁰ Therefore ^(R)I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain ^(S)the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with ^(T)eternal glory. ¹¹ The saying is ^(U)trustworthy, for:

for ^(AB)he cannot deny himself.

A Worker Approved by God

¹⁴ Remind them of these things, and ^(AC)charge them before God^{[a] (AD)}not to quarrel about words, ^(AE)which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. ¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,^[b] a worker ^(AF)who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. ¹⁶ But ^(AG)avoid ^(AH)irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, ¹⁷ and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are ^(AI)Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have swerved from the truth, ^(AJ)saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. ¹⁹ But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: ^(AK)“The Lord knows those who are his”, and, “Let everyone ^(AL)who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

²⁰ Now in ^(AM)a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, ^(AN)some for honourable use, some for dishonourable. ²¹ Therefore, ^(AO)if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonourable,^[c] he will be a vessel for honourable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ^(AP)ready for every good work.

²² So ^(AQ)flee ^(AR)youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with ^(AS)those who call on the Lord ^(AT)from a pure heart. ²³ Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant ^(AU)controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. ²⁴ And ^(AV)the Lord's servant^[d] must not be quarrelsome but ^(AW)kind to everyone, ^(AX)able to teach, patiently enduring evil, ²⁵ correcting his opponents ^(AY)with gentleness. God ^(AZ)may perhaps grant them repentance ^(BA)leading to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and they may come to their senses and escape from ^(BB)the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

Hosea Redeems His Wife

3 And the Lord said to me, ^(A)“Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” ² So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a ^(B)homer and a lethech^[a] of barley. ³ And I said to her, “You must ^(C)dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” ⁴ For the children of Israel ^(D)shall dwell many days ^(E)without king or prince, ^(F)without sacrifice or ^(G)pillar, without ^(H)ephod or ^(I)household gods. ⁵ Afterwards ^(J)the children of Israel shall return and ^(K)seek the Lord their God, and ^(L)David their king, ^(M)and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the ^(N)latter days.

The Lord Accuses Israel